The Allahabad High Court has directed that prayers at Vrindavan’s Bankey Bihari temple be live-streamed during the upcoming Janmashtami celebrations, in consultation with the civil judge of Mathura.
This order is significant in light of a stampede that occurred at the temple last year.
The court stated, “When the CCTV cameras are installed, the civil judge (junior division) shall be consulted. The district magistrate shall abide by the directions of the civil judge and ensure their compliance.”
The order was issued by a bench of Justices Siddhartha Verma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra on Wednesday while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Anant Sharma and another petitioner from Mathura, following the stampede in August of the previous year.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s counsel informed the court that the flow of devotees would be managed by installing barricades inside the temple. The lawyer explained, “The barricading serves a dual purpose by managing the ingress of devotees and ensuring that only a specified number of devotees are allowed at any given time to prevent overcrowding inside the premises.”
The petition had requested proper crowd management, particularly during festivals and holidays when large numbers of devotees gather at the temple. Previously, the state government presented a scheme to the court for developing the temple area into a corridor by purchasing approximately five acres of land around the shrine to improve facilities for devotees.
Under the scheme, there would be no interference with the “puja,” “archana,” or “shringar” conducted by the Sewayat Goswami family (the traditional priestly family), and their existing rights would continue to be respected.
